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Feeders Any and all issues about raising rats, mice, or anything else that you feed your cornsnakes.

Humanely Culling Mice Pinkies
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Old 06-10-2013, 03:14 PM   #1
Michiel
Humanely Culling Mice Pinkies

I'm relatively new to Corn snake ownership (about 2 months) and had some difficulties with culling the pinkies. I noticed that new owners often wonder how to cull humanely.

I could not bear the thought of freezing them alive and did not want to "bludgeon" them to death. And I think gassing by CO2 will take too long, thereby increasing stress and suffering.

I then decided that I will use electricity. I used it on two different occasions to cull 13 in total so far. It's basically instant and is relatively non-violent.

What I did:

1. I took two plugs (one three-prong and one two-prong) with some cord attached and joined the cords end to end. Ensuring that it's decently insulated with insulation tape.

2. I plugged in the 3-prong and put on a rubber glove on one hand to handle the 2-prong plug with and with the other placed the pinkies one by one on a plastic container lid, culling each as it is put on the lid.

3. Keep the contacts only for a second or two in contact with the pinkie. No longer than 2 seconds!

Do not do this if you are a minor. The risk of electrocuting yourself is very real if you are careless.

I know it's not a perfect method, but it works perfectly for me. Hope this can help someone
 
Old 06-11-2013, 08:10 AM   #2
reptire
Michiel, pinkies are extremely easy to apply cervical dislocation on and it's instanteneous. Try it out.
 
Old 06-11-2013, 10:39 AM   #3
BloodyBaroness
Quote:
Originally Posted by reptire View Post
Michiel, pinkies are extremely easy to apply cervical dislocation on and it's instanteneous. Try it out.
Cervical dislocation is impossible on baby pinkie mice (which what the poster is talking about) You can't do that to pinkies without actually squishing the head and brain, so that is not applicable in this situation. You are not dislocating the head in pinkies, you are causing a crushing injury.

To the OP, while I don't know if the electrical method is better or worse than gassing. I commend you for putting thought into how you go about this process to minimize the suffering as much as possible.

CO2 gassing is not as bad as you think. Pinkies succumb pretty quickly to the effects.

Still, good effort and not a bad result when it comes to minimizing suffering.
 
Old 07-24-2013, 05:04 PM   #4
Danie Burger
Just a stupid question ...... are you not half cooking them when you electrocute them?
I have been shocked once (while changing a plug and forgetting to switch off the mains) and where I was shocked was actually burn marks on my fingers.

Sorry not trying to 2nd guess, just an honest observation
 
Old 07-29-2013, 06:00 PM   #5
Buzzard
WHAT!!!!!!!

(shaking head) Okay the most humane way to dispatch a "pinkie" is to freeze them. CO2 can work, but often takes a ton of gas and really not an efficient way of doing it( it can take several more minutes and sometimes doesn't work). I understand that you want to ease their passing but if dispatching your pinkies pains you to the extreme of electrocuting them then you need to order your food for your snake/s. Sorry to be so blunt about it and by no means do I want to offend, but the risk of frying yourself is too great.

Buzz
 
Old 10-04-2013, 02:35 AM   #6
Gayle
I read online about the co2 and you can use dry ice put it in container like a critter keeper so the mice can't touch it put it in a cooler put the mice in it puts them to sleep and then they die so it's not torture and they don't stress out either I'm sure with pinkies it would be easier
 
Old 10-04-2013, 06:07 PM   #7
Wyldrose
Pinkies die faster if you put them right into the freezer. CO2 takes longer(pinks have a very slow breath rate compared to adults) and electricity is something no one should just play around with(plus chances are you will end up with burnt mice). Drowning works, but I believe it is inhumane(this is the method my Vet recommended). Mouse breeders who breed for shows/pets freeze newborn pinks, they often cull their litters hard. They recommend leaving 4-5 kits with each doe.
 
Old 10-04-2013, 06:14 PM   #8
hyenaboy
Is faster necessarily more humane, though? (This is a serious question, I really have no idea about humanely killing mice.)

I was under the impression that CO2 knocks the mice out unconscious before they actually die of it, which sounds more humane to me than freezing a warm-blooded animal to death. Or does the freezing come with falling unconscious as well?
 
Old 10-04-2013, 07:08 PM   #9
MysticExotics
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wyldrose View Post
Pinkies die faster if you put them right into the freezer. CO2 takes longer(pinks have a very slow breath rate compared to adults) and electricity is something no one should just play around with(plus chances are you will end up with burnt mice). Drowning works, but I believe it is inhumane(this is the method my Vet recommended). Mouse breeders who breed for shows/pets freeze newborn pinks, they often cull their litters hard. They recommend leaving 4-5 kits with each doe.
^^This!
(I agree with all of it.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by hyenaboy View Post
Is faster necessarily more humane, though? (This is a serious question, I really have no idea about humanely killing mice.)

I was under the impression that CO2 knocks the mice out unconscious before they actually die of it, which sounds more humane to me than freezing a warm-blooded animal to death. Or does the freezing come with falling unconscious as well?
For mice with fur, yes, but not with pinkies.

Pinkies are more succeptible to cold, so freezing them kills them very quickly.
 
Old 10-04-2013, 07:12 PM   #10
hyenaboy
That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.
 

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